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About this project

Here at Ozon cyclery we tend to pursue our dreams. For the past 2 years that dream has been to develop a new method for constructing Bamboo bike frames, allowing for improved stiffness and reduced weight. We have built about 20 prototypes which have been test ridden thousands of kilometers. Our bikes get great reviews from their owners, both for the ride quality of bamboo and for our custom geometry. They have been ridden from Berlin to Paris, Berlin to the Baltic Sea, Berlin to Poland, and are the daily ride of a number of couriers and commuters within Berlin itself. The frames weigh about 1.8 Kilos (4 pounds) and have a ride quality similar to high end steel.

Bamboo has excellent DURABILITY and VIBRATION absorbing qualities,
making it more comfortable than aluminum, safer than carbon, and perfect
as a
daily rider or training bike, just like a custom steel frame. In fact,
riding a bamboo frame feels almost EXACTLY like riding a high-end steel frame. So why
Bamboo over steel? Because the natural variation in size/wall thickness
of bamboo tubing allow us to custom select a tubing set that fits your
body perfectly, unlike steel where there are limited
tubesets to choose from. This also allows us to better control the ride
characteristics according to the wishes of the customer, by including
an oversized downtube for example, or more flexible seat stays.
Whatever you want! Not to mention the fact that it's environmentally friendly...

We are finally ready to go into production so we can offer our frames to the general public. However, one huge hurdle we have is MARKETING. To get the word out about our frames, we need a small fleet of “tester bikes” which we can send around the United States and Europe to magazines, bloggers, bike shops and potential customers, so they can experience for themselves the amazing ride quality of our frames.

We are asking for $6,000 so we can build three tester bikes and outfit them with high quality components. While a small portion of the money will go to materials and time compensation for the framebuilder, most of it will be spent on the expensive components that our frames deserve. Since we are starting this whole business on a shoestring, dropping several thousand dollars on expensive wheelsets is something we otherwise cannot afford, and thats why we need your help!

If we get MORE money than we ask for, then the first thing we'll do is hire back our intern Matt for the next semester. He created our website AND the Kickstarter video, and without him this wouldn't be possible! Thanks Matt!

To find out more about us, check out our website, facebook page or blog. Thanks so much for your support!

FAQ

A frame can be finished in three days, but most people prefer to take five. We also require a 100€ material fee for the workshops (or an additional $100 kickstarter certificate). If you want to be sure you have enough time to complete a frame, then pledge $600 (five days plus material fee). If you start a workshop but only have one or two certificates, then you can just pay for the extra days the "old fashioned" way. The certificates would make great gifts!

Support this project

Select this reward

Pledge $10 or more
About $10

A LIMITED EDITION Ozon spoke card, signed, numbered and stamped, which you can trade for a FULL DAY of borrowing one of our tester bikes the next time you visit Berlin. If you want multiple spoke cards, just give multiples of $10!

(note:if you want us to SHIP you a tester bike, we can! However, this is not officially part of the reward. Please contact us individually, and we'll let you know how it works.)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $100 or more
About $100

Spend a day in our workshop building your own bamboo bike! For every $100 of donation, you get a spokecard-certificate worth a day of personal instruction in our professional framebuilding workshop in Berlin. This would make a great gift for anyone with european travel plans! If you can't make it to this side of the pond, then watch out for our coming workshops in Berkely CA or at the beautiful Red River Gorge KY.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,500 or more
About $1,500

Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of an Ozon frameset! We will custom build the frame to exactly your specifications including color, size, geometry and surface finish. Fork is included!
(Shipping in Germany and Europe is included, to the US please add $100)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $3,000 or more
About $3,000

You are now the owner of a complete Ozon bicycle! With a fully custom frameset and carefully selected components, this will be your dream bike. We look forward to building it for you!
(note: some components may cost more, but we can talk about that later. Shipping in Germany is included, to elsewhere in Europe please add $50, to the US please add $200)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $5,000 or more
About $5,000

For our Corporate Customers... become an official Ozon sponsor! We will give you the rights to use our logo on your website and printed material and state that you have sponsored Ozon. We will also include YOUR logo on our website and state that you have sponsored us. But wait... we can't let you go without getting a bike! We will build you a custom bike and include our logo AND your logo on the frame, under the clearcoat, as a token of our appreciation! This offer is limited to TWO COMPANIES and we'll probably never do this again!